SALTFLEETBY PARISH COUNCIL
Unapproved Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday, 7th April 2015
7.30 pm in the Marshland Community Centre
Present: Chairman Cllr L Dover
Cllr S Clark
Cllr B Stapleton
Cllr S Harrison
Cllr P Bowman
Cllr C Appleby
Cllr J Lusby
Cllr W MacDonald
Mrs J Brown - Clerk
County Councillor D McNally & Mr Stephen Brookes, Lincolnshire County Council. There were fifteen members of the public present.
The Chairman welcomed the residents & Mr Brookes for attending regarding the Broadband supply to the village, which as he could see from the number of villagers present, was of vast importance to residents & she noted that it was especially nice to see so many residents; Cllr Dover gave the floor to Mr Brookes & stated that public comments would commence following his presentation.
Mr Brookes gave an update on the broadband provision for Saltfleetby & the area in general. He noted that in t Saltfleetby it was not as simple as in other areas due to the length of copper cable, some 1400m. From the Swallowgate Cabinet serving LN11 7S & 7T there were 318 premises but only 99 would get Super-fast Broadband. They were now going through the process of looking at what they could do in the second phase. He noted that because of efficiencies they would have quite a significant amount of money available at the end of the project which, together with a further £3.6m would go towards new cabinets or reconfiguration changes. There were emerging technologies, for example smaller versions of the green boxes, which could be positioned nearer to end users. Information should be available in May on this. If that still did not enable them to get to everybody there were other technical solutions such as wireless which it was envisaged may serve the last percentage perhaps and this would be looked at.
Mr Brookes was asked if the cabinet could be moved to a more central location in order to spread the number of households that would receive the service – Mr Brookes noted this would depend on what other infrastructures had to be changed & this would be expensive.
Comment was passed that the supply to the Louth end of the village, where there were the most number of houses due to new builds, would be the worst; there were a number of houses up for sale and the owners would struggle to sell them without the fast broadband service & he was asked if something else could be done to support these households as it was considered unbelievable that only 31% of the households would receive the service. Mr Brookes reiterated that other options would be looked at & when asked confirmed that the under-spend in this phase would be looked at as an aid to rectify this problem & he also confirmed that they would look at the cost of moving the cabinet with BT in order to get nearer supplying 100% of households.
Mr Brookes was asked why this problem in the village had only just come to light & he responded that due to commercial sensitivity information could not be shared until closer to the installation.
There were a number of businesses within the village & indeed businesses were conducted from homes & a high speed broadband connection was vital.
Mr Brookes confirmed that he would meet with BT in the near future & the results of the meeting would be reported back to the Parish Council in order that this could be passed on to residents.
Mr Brookes confirmed that should the Council invite him back afterwards for a discussion on alternative options he would be happy to attend.
The Chairman thanked Mr Brookes for the information supplied & the time he had kindly given & confirmed that this issue was of serious concern & the Council looked forward to hearing further from him in the very near future.
Mr Brookes left the meeting.
Public Comments: A resident asked why the erected speed signs appeared to be facing the wrong way. The public was informed that the signs had to be erected on lampposts & fitted on plates that could be turned in either direction & that the signs would be moved about the village periodically to ensure they remained effective. Additional plates could be purchased for alternative locations if it was found necessary.
The engineered barrier on Mill Lane by the Prussian Queen was raised as causing severe & dangerous problems. A situation had arisen twice when two cars were travelling up Mill Lane, the first car had needed to stop because of the barriers, but the car behind could not see the hazard and a crash had almost happened by the second car running into the first. The barriers had been erected following a report by the Council of the road falling away some 8-10 weeks ago with bollards & signage but nothing further had been carried out. Clerk to write to Highways regarding this & forward copy of the emails to Cllr Dan McNally.
Mr Coates gave a report on the installation of the speed signs & noted that it would be a two-man job to take the signs down & move to a new location with an A Frame ladder being required & appropriate road signage in addition to Hi Vis jackets; a Bluetooth enabled laptop would also be required to download the information & for programming, the need for one of the people to be computer literate was essential in order to download the data & programme as required once paired. Mr Coates had been informed that Android units were not compatible. Mr Coates had been handed two manuals, software discus, keys etc. – one full set of equipment was passed to Cllr MacDonald. The batteries had to be taken down to be charged but it should only take 6 or 7 hours to recharge. It was agreed that once the batteries had run out this time, as the Council had no way of knowing whether they had been fully charged, following the first charge they should be monitored for longevity. Mr Coates also reported that the higher the tolerance set on the units the more the batteries would be used.
The Chairman thanked Mr Coates for his valued help which was very much appreciated & the Council would consider his report closely during the agenda item.
Cllr Martin was not present to give the report on the Jubilee Committee meeting that had been held on 26th February 2015 & Cllr Appleby reported on his behalf. His report had been previously circulated but the meeting had received suggestions for projects which included – a new garden area with seating on the verge opposite the Outgang; the Parish Council had adopted the BT boxes from the village & these would be used in gardens with the Committee paying for their movement, repair etc.; Community Meals had been suggested but was not favoured although it would be left open; a playground area – it was believed there was insufficient funds available for such a project; the Saltfleet one had cost in the region of £64,000; spring flowers planting; it had been suggested that if the Parish Council purchased a Defibrillator the Committee should consider purchasing a second unit & some acoustics aid for the Marshland Community Centre. All the suggestions would be put into a flyer that would go out with the next Newsletter – a £25.00 prize, to be drawn at the Annual Parish Meeting in May, would be offered to encourage feedback.
Suggestions from the public present to be added were – Acoustics for the Marshland Community Centre – tonight with the number of people present it had been extremely difficult to hear the visitor which bore out the need; a permanent exhibition area in All Saints Church with artefacts; a plaque or commemoration plate in All Saints Church for the people killed in two World Wars; An extra door for the Marshland Community Centre with extended kitchen area & wheelchair access at the side doors plus equipment for the hall itself. Cllr Appleby agreed these would be added to the list.
Regarding the acoustics, it appeared to be the design of the hall that created a problem which might easily be overcome with some kind of canvas drapes on the roof or an acoustic loop.
The Chairman thanked everybody for their input and opened the meeting for business.
15/0573 Apologies for absence – Cllrs Martin & Warwick– the apologies were accepted.
15/0574 Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on 3rd March 2015 had been circulated & were accepted; the Minutes were duly signed by the Chairman p BS s SC.
15/0575 Declarations of Interest – No new declarations were made
15/0576 Financial Matters
Accounts to be paid/authorised – Clerk’s salary & expenses for March; J Brown – Reimbursement Cartridge Save – Ink Cartridges - £48.92 (authorise only); Unipart Dorman – 2 off additional mounting plates - £117.60 (authorise only) – It was resolved to authorise all the payments p CA s BS
Councillors Monthly Budget Report – Report as at 13th March 2015 had been circulated. The Council noted the addition of the budget for the speed signs & it was resolved that it be accepted as correct p SC s BS.
Grants & Donations – The Council had received requests from East Lindsey Citizens Advice Bureau & Lincoln & Lindsey Blind Society for a donation of funds & the question of making a donation to the local LIVES group had been tabled. Following debate it was resolved to donate £100 to both East Lindsey Citizens Advice Bureau & Lincoln & Lindsey Blind Society & following giving a report on the local LIVES group that she intended joining on the costs associated with such a group, Cllr Dover withdrew from the discussion; following further debate it was resolved that a donation of £200 would be made to LIVES locally as it was recognised the importance of the group to the village & that it had to fund its own costs – a representative of the local group to be invited to attend the Annual Parish Meeting when the donation would be handed over – Cllr Dover to organise invitation p CA s PB
Insurance Policy – The Council noted that the 2 Digital Speed Signs & 6 Passive Speed Signs had been added to the Council’s policy – new figure £27,534.57 & as this increased the premium by only £25.00 the Council was gratified to note that an additional fee had been waived by Came & Co as new paperwork was not required. The Council further noted that the policy was due for renewal 1st June 2015 – Agenda item for May.
Pension Regulator – The Council noted that the Clerk had fulfilled the Councils legal duty with regard to automatic enrolment of an employee into a workplace pension scheme by 1st July 2016 & contributions towards it & had completed the mandatory nomination of a contact by 31st March 2015 as being herself, the Clerk.
Community Wildlife Grant – Council noted the information but felt that currently there was no suitable project.
15/0577 Jubilee Committee – The Council noted the report by Cllr Martin & update by Cllr Appleby with regard to spending suggestions for the Old Village Hall Funds, now transferred to the Jubilee Committee; no further action by the Parish Council other than to include on the APM agenda.
15/0578 EnergieKontor – The Clerk had requested EnergieKontor carry out a full magnetic survey on North End Lane which she had been advised had been forwarded to National Power Grid & their response would be forwarded when received – Clerk asked to chase up. The joint meeting with Highways and C A Blackwell was discussed; the Council representatives had been informed merely that work would be carried out in accordance with statutory requirements, a rolling programme would be carried out on North End Lane and Three Bridges Lane, mole drilling under the culvert at Three Bridges Lane otherwise digging in the road with the roads being put back in line with the criteria for a road of that type. The Council did not feel that this gave it confidence on the state of the potential repair as previous work had made the roads extremely poor. Following debate it was resolved that pictures would be taken by Cllr Stapleton in order to have a record of its state prior to commencement & the Councillors who lived on North End Lane would document as much as the work as possible. The Clerk was asked to write to Highways informing them of its intentions to monitor any work extremely closely. The Council noted Trustees Training following the May elections for which the Clerk had registered the Council & believed a visit by LCVS would be useful.
Councillor Lusby left the meeting at 9.05pm
15/0579 Broadband Provision – The Council considered Mr Brooke’s presentation & the residents questions & following debate it was resolved that the Clerk thank Mr Brooke for attending, confirm the request for the data on the cabinet with regard to local postcodes & ask whether it was possible to be provided with a map showing the broadband speeds going out over the village – Clerk to action.
15/0580 Flailing – The Council noted the Contractors advice regarding the first cut of the season being carried out earlier than normal due to the state of growth & it was resolved that the Clerk write to the Contractor stating it should be carried out at the earliest opportunity.
15/0581 BT Box – Clerk to provide the Contract for signature at the May meeting.
15/0582 Highways & Footpaths – Appendix A had been circulated. It was understood that a resident was still having problems with regard to highways work that appeared to be having a detrimental effect on his property but no solution following complaints had been forthcoming; it was noted that the Council had also commented to Highways on this problem – Clerk to forward emails to Councillor McNally